Italy’s education ministry has circulated an urgent memo reminding families that all legacy paper identity cards will cease to be valid for cross-border travel from 3 August 2026, as required by EU Regulation 2019/1157 on secure ID documents. The circular, published on 14 June, asks school principals to verify that pupils booked on study trips, Erasmus+ exchanges and language courses abroad hold the newer biometric Carta d’Identità Elettronica (CIE) or a passport. Under the regulation, member states must replace paper IDs with tamper-proof, machine-readable cards containing an NFC chip and the bearer’s fingerprints.
![Paper Identity Cards to Expire 3 August 2026—Schools Urge Students to Switch Before Erasmus Trips]()
For families who dread the administrative maze, VisaHQ offers a convenient workaround. Through its Italy portal (https://www.visahq.com/italy/), the service can pre-screen documents, secure the earliest available municipal appointments and provide real-time status updates, ensuring students receive their biometric ID or passport well before departure.
Italy has issued more than 37 million CIEs since 2016, but municipalities still report processing backlogs of up to eight weeks in peak season. Failure to swap documents could leave students stranded at airport gates or unable to enrol at host universities. Travel-risk consultants recommend that HR and Global Mobility teams audit employees’ dependants who may travel on school programmes and, if necessary, book expedited appointments at municipal offices or suburban post offices with shorter queues. The move aligns Italy with Schengen partners France and Spain, which have already invalidated non-biometric cards. Airlines have welcomed the change, noting fewer secondary security checks and faster boarding when machine-readable IDs are used. Municipalities are offering extended evening opening hours until 31 July. Applicants need only their old card, tax code and a €16 revenue stamp; the new document is mailed within six days.
For families who dread the administrative maze, VisaHQ offers a convenient workaround. Through its Italy portal (https://www.visahq.com/italy/), the service can pre-screen documents, secure the earliest available municipal appointments and provide real-time status updates, ensuring students receive their biometric ID or passport well before departure.
Italy has issued more than 37 million CIEs since 2016, but municipalities still report processing backlogs of up to eight weeks in peak season. Failure to swap documents could leave students stranded at airport gates or unable to enrol at host universities. Travel-risk consultants recommend that HR and Global Mobility teams audit employees’ dependants who may travel on school programmes and, if necessary, book expedited appointments at municipal offices or suburban post offices with shorter queues. The move aligns Italy with Schengen partners France and Spain, which have already invalidated non-biometric cards. Airlines have welcomed the change, noting fewer secondary security checks and faster boarding when machine-readable IDs are used. Municipalities are offering extended evening opening hours until 31 July. Applicants need only their old card, tax code and a €16 revenue stamp; the new document is mailed within six days.
